An unusual tribute to the D.C. poetry scene appeared in Dupont Circle two weeks ago, in the broken window pane of Kramerbooks on Connecticut Avenue.
While the bookstore is known more for music than for poetry, visitors defaced the particle board covering on the window with graffiti. Outside it reads, “Kramerbooks 0, Drunks 1,” referring to the Sept. 1 incident when two drunk men stumbled into the storefront window.
On the other side of the board inside the store is a wall of poetic history.
“O Captain! My Captain!” reads one quote, from the first famous poet to live in the D.C. area. Walt Whitman lived in Washington, D.C. for a few years and wrote some of his famous works in the area before moving to New Jersey, according to the Academy of American Poets.
“O Captain! My Captain!” is one of Whitman’s most recognized poems, written while he worked as a nurse in the Civil War.
Quotes from Tennessee Williams and Cicero can be found on the board as well as tributes to more recent staples in American poetry. Kramerbooks is a music venue, and song lyrics certainly have a place in poetry. “What does the fox say?” is the most recent lyrical reference, citing the new hit song “The Fox” by Ylvis.
“Today’s youth are socially conscious,” said Face, a veteran poet who frequently performs at Busboys and Poets. “The audience demands political art.”
Social change is at the forefront of the current D.C. poetry scene, emphasizing civil rights. Face attributes the renewed interest in civil rights to the recent death of Trayvon Martin and the George Zimmerman trial.
Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe’s inspiring particle board will be replaced with a new window soon. As the words scribbled onto the wall return to their places in history, a new chapter in D.C. poetry is written and performed. The scene is alive and well, with a new generation of poets looking to make their mark on social and political reform.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
